State of the D Line

[StarBoyz83]

Just hoping dlaw has an awesome year since it's a contract year. But either way I see hin walking.

Phea should be an upgrade over McClain but basically just hoping the same old cast steps up otherwise.

 

[Cowboys22]

Rod wants to have 10 DL on the roster. Right now I count 8 locks

Lawrence
Mayowa
Irving
Collins
Paea
Thornton
Tapper
Crawford
Decent guys but not stars. Can we add something big with these other 2 spots?

There's also Moore, Richard Ash, a DE early in the draft, and I'm also convinced Demarcus Ware will be in a Cowboy uniform sometime between the last week of camp and week 8. I understand that doesn't make for a very inspiring DL but it's a group that shouldn't see any drop off and certainly has room to be improved. I'm not to worried about the DL and if they get a good DE in the draft and the Ware thing pans out, I think it will be a surprising productive rotation down the stretch.

 

[visionary]

I think the Cowboys should strongly consider forfeiting all games this year and wait until next year to play.

My god what a bad attitude
What kind of fan are you?
This team will be great next year

 

[CWR]

If everyone goes into the season healthy, I actually see a lot of young decently talented dudes. Mayowa actually started finding a groove late in the season, and Tank/Tapper have talent if their backs don't snap in half. Irving is such an interesting young player, he has potential as well. So does Moore, if he doesn't go full ****** (coin flip).

I think we're probably adding 1 DE and then a DT later.

They could actually end up being pretty fun to watch in a rotation.

Agreed. Its glossed over here that our group of misfits actually led the league in qb pressures (sacks?) the last month of the season. Wed all love to have that ONE absolute stud on the DL but nonetheless the cupboard is not as bare as some feel.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Agreed. Its glossed over here that our group of misfits actually led the league in qb pressures (sacks?) the last month of the season. Wed all love to have that ONE absolute stud on the DL but nonetheless the cupboard is not as bare as some feel.

Atlanta had a "stud" and had fewer sacks than Dallas.

Oakland has the league's defensive "stud" and were last (or close to it) in sacks.

What Dallas is trying to do is have 6 guys that get between 4 and 8 sacks each over the course of the season.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Elite players rise up when the stakes are high - like the playoffs. We need a couple of Michael Jordans on defense- the guy that will carry the team. Instead we have a bunch of BJ armstrongs and Luke Longleys

We need role players, but not an entire defense of role players.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I bet Dlaw, Crawford, Gregory, and mayowa won't be here in 2019
All of them

 

[Vinnie2u]

Atlanta had a "stud" and had fewer sacks than Dallas.

Oakland has the league's defensive "stud" and were last (or close to it) in sacks.

What Dallas is trying to do is have 6 guys that get between 4 and 8 sacks each over the course of the season.

It's all not about sacks it's pressure. Especially up the middle. QB's are quite comfortable against us. Atlanta had Brady on the ropes. And took the foot of the gas. Which wound up gassing the defense.

 

[slomoxn]

But that is all it is. None of them have been truly consistent. Sad thing is, they will look at this collection of dudes and see "talent" yet forget they could not get the job done. The group needs a couple of alphas. Superior players that stay in the majority of the time. We don't have that end and might possibly have the interior player in Collins.

A rotation is nice, but there have to be a couple that teams will prepare for and that the gameplan can be built around. Rotations serve the purpose to keep the best talent fresh, not be the entire sum of the unit. I have yet to see a great defense that had eight players rotating in and out, doing different things. There has to be some continuity and glue.

Irving flashed last year in more than a few games, but he is alone in putting pressure on QBs so it's become the offenses key to stop him and allow everyone else to run free and they only do minimal damage. They need one more capable of being disruptive if not constantly than enough to have to pick a poison.

 

[CF74]

State of the DL, well what position does Irving play in all this. And where do we put Crawford. Collins?

Just a question.

Irving and Crawford play both DE and DT.
Collins is a three tech.

Three guys are question marks due to injury, Crawford, Tank, and there's an argument that Tapper is an unknown coming off his setback.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Irving and Crawford play both DE and DT.
Collins is a three tech.

Three guys are question marks due to injury, Crawford, Tank, and there's an argument that Tapper is an unknown coming off his setback.

Ok, what teams we play against is Irving at DE or DT.

Its about matchups, the Pats do it, why cant we. Crawford and Tank suck. Look up Tanks numbers, come on.

The state of our DL isn't good, but we are trying to do better.

 

[LittleD]

Rod wants to have 10 DL on the roster. Right now I count 8 locks

Lawrence
Mayowa
Irving
Collins
Paea
Thornton
Tapper
Crawford
Decent guys but not stars. Can we add something big with these other 2 spots?

They are not stars yet! and we won't know about draft picks for a year or two. We will not be adding anything big because we just won't know for a couple of years.
There is also the issue of CB and S which we have to draft in order to rebuild an entire secondary. Our defense will be a work in progress for at least two years so,
the offense will continue to have to carry this team to victory just like last year.

 

[CF74]

Ok, what teams we play against is Irving at DE or DT.

Its about matchups, the Pats do it, why cant we. Crawford and Tank suck. Look up Tanks numbers, come on.

The state of our DL isn't good, but we are trying to do better.

All I know is they get moved around but I agree, we need to add more pieces to the D-line..

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Once again, our D-line has the potential be turn heads or be pathetic. This isn't anything new. Remember how good people thought we could've been when we added Hardy and Gregory in one offseason? Reminded me of the year we added Carr and Claiborne (but without the baggage). At least Gregory and Hardy had blue chip potential. Hardy had already shown his and Gregory was regarded as the best pure pass rusher in the draft. Now we're relying on guys like Charles Tapper and David Irving to step in and be reliable NFL players. Lawrence, Gregory and Crawford likely aren't in our long-term plans. That means we'll be back to rebuilding the D-line like we're currently doing the secondary. It also puts a lot of pressure on mid-round talents like Collins, Irving and Tapper to play way above their ceilings. And I doubt we'll be adding any guys to the D-line this upcoming draft with all the needs in the secondary.

 

[darthseinfeld]

A healthy Tapper could possibly beat out any DE we would draft at 28

 

[StarBoyz83]

A healthy Tapper could possibly beat out any DE we would draft at 28

Or any de on the roster